RCA\AI^KS  ON  Tilt:  DISPOSAL  OV  RF.rUSL:  IN 
SO,nf:  [:L'F^OPt:AN  CITILS 


BY 


THOMAS  MACFARLANE.  F.  R.  S    C  .  Ottawa,  Ontario, 


BEI'OKI",   THK 


Americcin  l^ublic  Health  Association 


AT   A   MEETING  HELD  IN 


OTTAWA,  SEPT.  27-30.  1898. 


Reprinted   from    Vol.    XXI \'  of  the    Transactions  of  the   Atnerican    Public 

Health   Association. 


COLUMBUS,   OHIO: 

THE  BERLIN  PRINTING  COMPANY. 

1899. 


REMARKS    ON    THE    DISPOSAL   OF    REFUSE    IN    SOME 

EUROPEAN    CITIES. 

By  THOMAS  MACFARLANE,  F.  R.  S.  C„  Ottawa,  Ontariu. 

In  the  summer  of  18i)G  I  spent  some  months  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  visited  some  of  the  principal  cities  in  England  and 
Germany  and  inspected  their  different  systems  of  refuse  disposal.  I 
do  not  propose,  on  this  occasion,  fully  to  recount  my  experiences; 
indeed,  even  if  I  were  to  do  so,  that  would  still  be  very  far  from 
exhausting  the  subject.  I  desire  rather  to  put  on  record  my  impres- 
sions regarding  these  systems  and  their  merits,  considered  more 
particularly  with  reference  to  the  advantage  of  agriculture. 

In  order  to  avoid  repetitions,  I  may,  at  the  outset,  state  the  mean- 
ings which  I  attach  to  the  terms  used  in  this  paper,  and  which  are 
intended  to  indicate  the  different  sorts  of  city  and  town  refuse,  as 
well  as  the  various  systems  in  use  for  their  removal.  Following  the 
example  of  W.  H.  Maxwell  (Removal  and  Disposal  of  Town  Refuse ; 
1898),  I  make  use  of  the  word  "refuse"  as  a  convenient  general  term 
for  including  every  description  of  rejected  and  ejected  matter.  It 
comprehends  house  refuse,  street  refuse,  trade  refuse,  factory  refuse, 
etc.,  besides  the  liquid  refuse  which  finds  its  way  to  the  sewers.  The 
term,  house  refuse,  I  would  restrict  to  that  which  cannot,  by  any  pos- 
sibility, find  its  way  to  the  sev/ers.  It  consists  of  kitchen  refuse,  gar- 
bage, ashes,  cinders,  etc.  Street  refuse  is  defined  in  the  London 
Public  Health  Act  of  1891  as  "dust,  dirt,  rubbish,  mud,  road  scrap- 
ings, ice,  snow  and  filth,"  a  formidable  list  to  be  the  result  of  work 
described  by  the  one  word  "scavenging."  Excluding  the  "ice,  snow 
and  filth,"  a  convenient  word  for  the  remainder  might  be  found  in 
the  word  "sweepings,"  which  corresponds  to  the  German  kchricht. 
Of  course,  this  would  also  exclude  everything  capable  of  finding  its 
way  to  the  sewers.  Trade  refuse  consists  of  rejected  animal  and 
vegetable  matter  from  markets  and  slaughter  houses,  while  factory 
refuse  might  be  understood  to  mean  similar  substances  from  cotton, 
woolen  and  other  mills. 

Sewage  I  take  to  be  the  liquid  which  flows  in  the  sewers  and  which, 
in  the  greater  number  of  instances,  consists  of  human  refuse,  rain  and 
storm  water,  wash  water,  including  that  from  kitchen,  baths,  laundries, 
etc.,  and  also  all  liquids  from  mills  and  factories.  The  latter  part  of 
the  sewage  it  would  seem  to  me  to  be  practicable  to  characterize  as 


2  J)ISroS.lL  OF  A'/:/'f/S/C  /A'  SOA//-:  El'NonEAN  CITIES. 

drainage,  while  the  other  part,  consisting:  of  feces  and  tirine,  com- 
bined with  a  certain  quantity  of  flush  water,  constitute  what  might  he 
called  excretage.  Drainage  and  excretage  together  make  up  sewage. 
Where  the  separate  system  of  sewerage  has  hecn  introduced  this 
nomenclature  would  also  find  its  application.  The  one  set  of  pipes 
or  sewers  would  contain  the  drainage,  the  other  the  excretage.  In 
the  case  of  towns  where  there  are  systems  of  water  supply  and  sew- 
erage, but  no  water  closets,  as  in  many  German  cities,  the  term  drain- 
age might  also  apply  to  the  contents  of  the  sewers.  In  many  such 
instances,  however,  the  excretage,  or  rather  the  excreta,  would  come 
together  with  the  garbage,  forming  a  compound  for  which  there  is 
no  ether  name  than  manure.  Where,  in  the  production  of  the  latter, 
an  absorbent  or  deodorizer  is  used,  a  prefix  might  be  necessary,  and  we 
should  have  earth,  ash  and  moss  manure,  or  compost,  as  the  case 
might  be.  In  my  opinion,  it  is  in  the  production  of  the  latter  that 
the  greatest  advantage  to  agriculture  is  to  be  obtained  and  the  public 
health  secured  in  the  most  economical  manner.  I  do  not  mean  to 
say  that  no  other  process  of  utilizing  refuse  is  applicable  to  the  fer- 
tilization of  the  soil,  but  I  am  inclined  to  maintain  that  in  no  other 
way  can  this  be  accomplished  so  economically  as  by  the  production 
of  manures  and  composts. 

Maxwell  defines  the  term  "conservancy  system"  as  "the  name  given 
to  the  practice  of  retaining  and  collecting  excreta  and  waste  sub- 
stances with  a  view  of  turning  them  to  account  as  manure."  This 
would  seem  to  be  too  wide  an  application,  and  I  propose  to  use  the 
term  as  covering  all  privy,  cesspool  and  midden  systems  which  serve 
for  the  purpose  of  collecting  and  applying  excreta  direct  to  agricul- 
ture. It  would  then  correspond  to  the  "Gruben  system"  of  the  Ger- 
mans. In  some  English  reports  the  term  "interception  system"  is 
applied  when  excreta  are  "intercepted"  or  prevented  from  passing  into 
the  sewers.  This  appears  to  me  to  be  a  convenient  term  for  use  when 
the  intercepted  matters  are  worked  up  by  a  manufacturing  process 
into  a  concentrated  manure.  But  it  should  not  be  regarded  as  equiv- 
alent to  the  "pan"  or  "pail"  system,  because  in  the  corresponding 
"Kiibel  system"  of  the  Germans  the  contents  are  not  infrequently 
used  without  admixture  and  direct  for  agricultural  purposes.  In  con- 
nection with  sewage  disposal  the  words  precipitation,  irrigation,  etc., 
do  not  require  explanation. 

Sewage  itself  has  no  value.  When  fertilizing  material  of  any  de- 
scription has  once  been  allowed  to  mix  with  the  large  excess  of  water 
which  comes  from  the  clouds,  its  recovery  is  economically  impossi- 
ble. This  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  where  sewage  can  be  conveyed 
into  the  ocean  or  into  such  large  rivers  as  the  St.  Lawrence  or  the 


DISPOSAL  ()/■'  A' /■:/'( 'S/-:  /X  so  mi-:  EVNOrEAN  CITIES.  3 

Ottawa,  no  attempt  is  made  to  utilize  it.  If  further  proof  were  wanted 
that  sewage  is  utterly  valueless,  the  experience  of  the  largest  city  in 
the  world,  London,  provides  it. 

LONDON. 

In  the  month  of  Jtuie.  1S9G.  I  visited  the  sewage  works  at  Crossness 
on  the  north  and  J]arking  on  the  south  side  of  the  Thames,  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  W.  J.  Dibdin,  chemist  to  the  London  County  Council, 
and  Dr.  Thudichum,  his  assistant.  At  these  places,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent the  pollution  of  the  Thames,  the  London  sewage  is  treated  by  a 
precipitation  process,  the  reagents  being  lime  water,  not  milk  of  lime, 
and  a  saturated  solution  of  copperas.  This  lime  water  is  first  run 
into  the  sewage  and  then  the  copperas.  The  proportions  used  are  one 
part  of  the  crystallized  copperas  to  four  or  five  of  burnt  lime.  The 
additions  increase  the  volume  of  the  sewage  about  five  per  cent.  After 
treatment  it  is  passed  through  a  long  canal,  dammed  up  at  the  far 
end,  and  here  so-called  "sludge"  is  deposited.  This  is  a  black  mud 
which  smells  somewhat  offensively  and  every  chance  is  afTorded  it  to 
consolidate  and  become  as  free  as  possible  from  water.  Nevertheless, 
it  contains  about  ninety  per  cent,  of  water  when  it  is  pumped  into  the 
special  steamers  which  convey  it  fifty  miles  out  to  sea  and  there  dis- 
charge it.  It  has  been  treated  in  filter  presses  and  made  into  cakes 
containing  only  fifty-five  per  cent,  of  water,  but  no  application  or  use 
was  found  for  this  product  and  its  manufacture  was  discontinued.  It 
contained  nitrogen  equal  to  one  per  cent,  when  stated  as  ammonia. 
The  "sludge"  is  to  be  had  gratis  by  any  one  who  will  undertake  to  use 
it  in  sufficient  quantity.  Seventeen  thousand  tons  of  it  are  produced 
daily.  The  present  eflluent  is  very  slightly  turbid  and  in  color  appears 
grayish.  Its  odor  is  somewhat  disagreeable,  although  not  to  be  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  "sludge."  It  has  been  experimented  with  on  a 
filter  bed  of  an  acre  area,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  its  complete  puri- 
fication can  be  effected  by  intermittent  filtration,  if  it  is  judged  ad- 
visable to  incur  the  cost.  At  present,  however,  the  effluent  escapes 
into  the  Thames  and  the  degree  of  purification,  as  well  as  the  condi- 
tion of  the  river,  is  regarded  as  satisfactory.  The  discharged  water 
is,  of  course,  carried  up  and  down  by  the  tide,  but  creates  no  annoy- 
ance, and  the  opponents  of  this  sewage  purification  system  are  now 
said  to  be  satisfied. 

The  cost  of  the  whole  establishment  is  £120,000  annually  for  treat- 
ing two  hundred  millions  of  gallons  of  sewage  per  diem.  This 
$600,000  per  annum  is  the  price  which  London  pays  for  the  luxury  of 
her  water-borne  system  of  sewage  removal.    I  have  no  doubt  that  it 


4       j)isj'()SAL  OF  h'/:irs/-:  in  so  a//;  fajkopean  cities. 

is  the  best  system  that  such  a  city  could  adopt,  and  no  one  at  the 
present  time  thinks  of  reducing  its  cost  by  attempting  the  application 
of  the  sewage  or  sewage  products  to  agriculture. 

LEYTON. 

To  the  cast  of  London  and  unconnected  with  its  sewerage  system 
are  two  municipalities,  regarding  whose  method  of  sewage  disposal 
I  made  some  inquiries.  At  Leyton  there  are  precipitation  works,  in 
which  the  precipitants  used  are  twelve  grains  "sulphurous  powder" 
and  eight  grains  lime  per  gallon.  The  sulphurous  powder  is  said  to  be 
alkali  waste.  The  sludge  produced  is  put  through  filter  presses,  with 
the  addition  of  three  per  cent,  quicklime.  The  resulting  cakes  smell 
of  ammonia  and  are  thrown  aside  as  valueless.  To  prevent  their 
causing  any  nuisance,  destructors  were  being  created  to  burn  them, 
as  well  as  the  garbage,  ashes,  etc.,  which  operation  has  since  been 
successfully  carried  out. 

WALTIIAMSTOWE. 

At  Walthamstowe  a  precipitation  process  has  been  adopted  similar 
to  that  of  Leyton,  although  a  sewage  farm  had  previously  been  in 
operation.  It  was  found  impossible  to  apply  the  crude  sewage  to  irri- 
gation purposes  without  a  previous  separation  of  the  sludge.  The 
manager  of  the  Walthamstowe  sludge  farm  said  that  in  order  to  use 
crude  sewage,  there  should  be  one  acre  of  land  available  to  every  one 
hundred  of  population,  whereas,  at  Walthomstowe  there  is  only  one 
acre  to  three  hundred.  According  to  Gerson  &  Weyl  (Rieeselfelder; 
Jena;  Gustav  Fischer;  1896),  one  hectare  of  land  is  necessary  for  the 
complete  utilization  of  the  sewage  nitrogen  from  eighty  persons. 
Since  one  ha.  is  equal  to  nearly  two  and  one-half  acres,  it  follows  that 
one  acre  of  land  to  thirty-two  inhabitants  would  not  be  too  much.  At 
Walthamstowe  the  crude  effluent  from  the  precipitation  process  is 
led  on  to  the  various  fields  of  the  farm  as  required  by  these.  Italian 
rye  grass,  mangold  wurzel  and  vetches  are  the  usual  crops,  but  no 
grain  is  raised  on  account  of  the  tendency  it  would  have  to  "lodge." 
The  fields  were  formerly  under-drained,  but  on  account  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  filtration,  the  use  of  the  under-drains  was  abandoned  and 
arrangements  made  for  working  the  fields  by  surface  flow.  The  sew- 
age comes  into  contact,  more  or  less,  with  the  growing  plant,  or  at 
least  with  the  rye  grass.  I  took  occasion  to  smell  several  heaps  of  it 
recently  cut,  and  it  appeared  to  be  perfectly  sweet.  It  is  mostly  cut 
green  for  the  use  of  cow-keepers,  who  say  that  more  milk  is  obtained 
from  it  than  with  dryer  fodder. 

In  spite  of  all  this,  so  great  are  the  difficulties,  both  at  Leyton  and 
Walthamstowe,  that  their  authorities  look  forward  with  satisfaction 


DIsroS.lL  OF  h'FFUS/-:  IN  SOMJi  fa:  KG  PEA  N  C/TIFS.  5 

to  the  possibility  of  their  beinp  allowed  to  send  their  scwapc  into  the 
London  main  sewer.  This  is  the  case,  also,  with  the  inhabitants 
on  the  west  side  of  the  River  Lee,  who  would  also  be  glad  to  have  all 
their  sanitary  troubles  ended  in  this  way.  There  is  no  likelihootl  of  the 
extension  of  the  sewaj^e  farm  of  Walthamstovve,  and  no  anticipation 
on  the  part  of  its  authorities  of  being  able  to  make  money  by 
agriculture. 

BERLIN. 

It  was  difTerent  with  the  system  of  sewage  irrigation  established  in 
the  city  of  Berlin.  Its  originators  certainly  anticipated,  away  back  in 
1870,  that  the  agricultural  operations  would  yield  a  profit.  In  July, 
189G,  I  had  the  opportunity  of  attending  the  exhibition  of  that  year 
in  Berlin  and  of  inspecting  the  magnificent  exhibit  made  by  the  cor- 
poration authorities  of  everything  connected  with  the  management 
of  the  city  affairs.  Plans  showing  the  limits  of  the  several  radial  sys- 
tems of  collecting  the  sewage,  photographs  of  the  magnificent  pump- 
ing machinery  at  the  central  stations,  specimens  of  the  huge  iron 
pipes  through  which  the  sewage  is  forced  up  to  the  necessary  level  at 
the  farms  and  a  great  many  more  interesting  objects  than  I  can  men- 
tion here,  were  exhibited,  so  that  it  was  quite  possible  to  study  the 
whole  arrangement  without  going  near  the  farms.  I  undertook,  how- 
ever, a  visit  to  one  of  them,  Malchow-Blankenburg,  over  which  I  was 
conducted  by  one  of  the  intelligent  inspectors  in  charge.  The  land 
is  mostly  let  to  market  gardeners,  and  the  rent  includes  the  use  of  sew- 
age for  irrigation.  Some  of  it  is,  however,  worked  by  the  city,  on 
which  grass  is  often  cut  four  times  a  season  and  sold  green  in  Berlin. 
Grain  was  also  being  harvested  and  looked  well,  while  the  vegetable 
growth  was  vigorous  and  healthy.  It  did  not  occur  to  me  that  there 
was  anything  to  complain  of  in  the  smell  of  the  sewage  which  was 
being  applied,  and  from  all  I  could  learn,  it  was  not  in  the  slightest 
degree  detrimental  to  the  public  health.  I  conversed  with  some  of  the 
market  gardeners,  who  had  nothing  to  complain  of,  except  the  low 
prices  caused  by  over-production,  and  competition  from  Holland. 
One  of  them  maintained  that  no  money  was  to  be  made  and  that  it  was 
all  being  hoarded  by  the  capitalists.  He  admitted  that  he  had  enough 
to  eat,  but  no  money.  This  gentleman  was  smoking  a  cigar  at  his 
work,  and  the  horse  and  wagon  were  waiting  for  the  cabbages  he  was 
rutting,  to  take  them  into  the  city.  My  friend,  the  inspector,  told  a 
diflFerent  story,  and  said  that  good  market  gardeners  could  make  plenty 
of  money  on  the  irrigation  fields. 

It  would,  of  course,  be  the  height  of  presumption  for  any  one,  pay- 
ing, like  myself,  a  short  visit  to  Berlin  and  its  irrigation  farms,  to 
indulge  in  criticism,  or  express  any  opinions  whatever,  based  upon 


6  /V.SVV'.SV/A  OF  h'Kl'CS/-:  IN  SOMIC  /■:( '/y'O/'/i.l \  (7'/7/:S. 

Ills  hurried  observations.  It  is  a  ^rcat  deal  more  profitable  to  pay 
some  attention  to  the  Hterature  of  the  subject  ami  to  learn  what  the 
various  authorities,  who  write  both  for  and  against  the  system,  have 
to  say  about  it.  After  studying  their  writings  as  much  as  my  time  has 
permitted,  I  have  reached  the  following  conclusions,  which  I  place 
before  you  for  what  they  are  worth : 

It  has  been  calculated  that  the  amount  of  nitrogen  contained  in 
the  sewage  used  on  the  irrigation  fields  every  year  amounts  to  one 
thousand  five  hundred  kilogrammes  per  hectare,  and  that  the  quan- 
tity contained  in  the  crops  harvested  is  only,  at  the  most,  two  hundred 
kilo,  per  hectare.  Eighty-six  and  two-thirds  per  cent,  of  the  nitrogen 
thus  appears  to  escajic  unutilized  in  the  water  of  the  drains.  Analyses 
of  the  latter  support  the  conclusion  just  stated  and  show  that  quantities 
varying  from  one-seventh  to  one-half  of  the  organic  substances  of 
the  sewage  arc  found  in  the  drain  water.  The  most  favorable  results 
seem  to  be  obtained  with  meadow  land,  from  which  the  drain  water 
shows  an  almost  complete  mineralisation  of  the  organic  substances. 
This  does  not,  however,  mean  a  complete  utilization  of  the  nitrogen, 
but  only  that  that  part  of  it  escaping  in  the  drains  is  in  the  form  of 
nitrates. 

The  commission  which  was  appointed  by  the  state  to  control  the 
irrigation  fields  stipulated  for  a  surface  of  at  least  one  hectare  for  the 
excreta  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons.  Even  with  such  a  ratio  as 
this,  a  considerable  quantity  of  inorganic  nitrogen,  i.  e.,  nitrogen  as 
nitric  acid,  supposed  to  be  harmless  to  health,  but  known  to  be  valua- 
ble for  agriculture,  will  still  be  found  in  the  drain  water.  In  the  year 
1889  the  following  areas  were  used  for  the  purification  of  the  sewage : 

At  Osdorf,  1  hectarel  for  the  excreta  of  44G  perosns. 
At  Grossbeercn,  1  hectare  for  the  excreta  of  538  persons. 
At  Falkenberg,  1  hectare  for  the  excreta  of  334  persons. 
At  Malchow.  1  hectare  for  the  excreia  of  242  persons. 

At  most  of  the  farms,  therefore,  a  quantity  of  sewage  far  in  excess 
of  that  anticipated  by  the  Royal  Commission  was  on  the  fields,  such  an 
excess,  in  fact,  as  made  the  utilization  of  even  the  organic  nitrogen  and 
the  purification  of  the  sewage  an  impossibility. 

It  has  been  ascertained  that,  in  order  to  utilize,  by  the  growth  of 
plants,  the  nitrogen  in  sewage  from  the  excreta  of  eighty  persons,  an 
area  of  one  hectare  is  necessary.  That  is  to  say,  if  we  exact  that  the 
drain  water  of  an  irrigation  field  shall,  just  like  the  drain  water  of 
cultivated  and  manured  land,  not  only  be  free  from  organic  nitrogen, 
but  also  from  all  except  the  merest  traces  of  nitrous  or  nitric  acid  or 
ammonia,  then  one  hectare  of  land  will  be  required  for  eighty  persons. 

1  One  hectare  is  equal  to  2.471  acres. 


/)ISIH)S,U.  OF  h'/CFUS/i  IX  SOA/F  EU ROPE  AN  CITIES.  7 

In  J'.erlin  one  hectare  receives  the  excreta  of  five  times  this  number, 
so  that  tiie  irrigation  fields  are  really  Irouhled  with  an  cniburras  ile 
riclii'ssc.  In  IH'M)  the  population  of  I'.erlin  was  stated  at  l,(ii)l,;;03, 
and  the  extent  of  its  irrigation  farms  I,(mv'  ha.  This  is  equal  to  three 
hundred  and  forty-eight  persons  to  each  hectare. 

Acconling  to  the  statements  made  by  City  Councilor  MargK^'afT  at 
the  seventh  internati(jnal  hygienic  congress  in  London  in  August, 
1891,  with  reference  to  the  profits  earned  on  the  I'.erlin  irrigation  fields, 
the  largest  certainly  in  the  world,  it  appears  that  they  earned  about 
that  time  two  per  cent,  on  their  cost,  or  about  one  and  one-half  per 
cent,  less  than  the  rate  at  which  the  city  can  borrow  money.  This  is 
all  they  have  been  able  to  do,  without  charging  against  the  agricultural 
operations  any  of  the  cost  incurred  for  pumping  the  sewage  out  to 
the  farms.  This  is  certainly  not  such  a  result  as  would  induce  other 
cities  to  imitate  the  Berlin  system.  Nevertheless  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
such  improvements  may,  in  the  future,  be  made  in  the  management 
of  this  magnificent  undertaking  as  to  place  it  on  a  remunerative  basis. 
As  regards  the  direction  in  which  such  improvements  are  likely  to  take 
place,  I  should  anticipate  the  introduction  of  a  sei)arate  system  of  some 
sort,  for  keeping  the  storm  water  from  the  excretage,  of  apparatus  for 
the  thorough  conuninution  of  the  latter,  and  the  acquisition  of  a  still 
greater  anunmt  of  land  for  the  complete  agricultural  utilization  of  the 
fertilizing  constituents. 

IlIRMIXGIIANr. 

In  IS!).")  the  population  of  the  city  of  Birmingham  was  said  to  be 
484,000  and  the  extent  of  its  sewage  farms  4!)(i.5:5  hectare,  or  l,3-»7 
acres.  It  has,  however,  to  be  remembered  that  a  large  amount  of  the 
excreta  never  reaches  the  sewers,  but  is  collected  in  "pans"  and  treated 
in  the  so-called  interception  works.  About  215,000  of  the  population 
is  accommodated  in  this  way,  so  that  the  sewage  farms  have  only  to 
take  care  of  the  excretage  of  a  population  of  '^GD.OOO,  or  about  five 
hundred  and  forty-two  persons  to  the  hectare ;  a  number  two  hundred 
higher  than  the  Berlin  ratio,  above  mentioned. 

The  sewage  farms  of  Saltley  and  Tyburn  differ  from  those  of  Berlin 
in  so  far  as  the  sewage  is  subjected  to  a  precipitation  process  before 
being  used  for  irrigation.  I  walked  over  l.oth  the  precipitation  plant 
and  the  farms  on  the  sixteenth  of  June,  1806.  At  the  former  the  only 
precipitant  used  is  lime,  but  it  is  in  the  form  of  milk  of  lime.  Eleven 
tons  of  quicklime  are  said  to  sufifice  for  the  treatment  oi  twenty-two 
millions  of  gallons  in  twenty-four  hours. 

Six  hundred  tons  of  sludge  are  produced  daily,  the  disposal  of 
which  occasions  a  great  deal  of  labor  and  trouble.     It  was  at  one  time 


8  DISPOSAL  OF  REFUSE  IN  SOME  EUROPEAN  CITIES. 

allowed  to  collect  on  the  fields  in  large  quantity  and  in  the  wet  condi- 
tion, but  the  consequence  was  a  serious  nuisance.  Now  it  is  spread 
over  the  fields  at  Saltley  in  a  layer  eight  or  ten  inches  thick,  and  after  it 
is  somewhat  dry  it  is  trenched  or  dug  into  the  land.  This  means  bury- 
ing it  under  eighteen  inches  or  two  feet  of  earth,  which  ab'sorbs  the 
smell.  After  this  the  land  looks  well  enough,  but  it  will  not  bear  the 
weight  of  a  horse.  Even  some  time  after  the  trenching  is  completed 
the  sowing  of  rape  seed  has  to  be  done  by  men  drawing  a  drill.  Usu- 
ally Italian  rye  grass  is  the  first  crop,  then  come  rape,  barley,  etc.,  until 
the  fourth  year  comes  round,  when  it  receives  another  dose  of  "sludge." 
It  is  stated  that  the  ground  will  yield  good  crops,  but  that  it  becomes 
"sick"  from  receiving  too  much  "sludge."  To  me  it  appeared  that 
there  was  no  time  to  make  any  use  of  the  fertility  o'  the  fields,  owing  to 
the  necessity  of  disposing  of  the  product  of  the  precipitation  process  by 
continual  trenching.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Saltley  the  smell  of 
sewage  prevails,  and  although  it  cannot  be  called  offensive,  it  is  less 
agreeable  than  in  the  neighborhood  of  other  establisliments  of  a  sim- 
ilar character  where  solution  of  copperas  is  used  in  the  treatment  as 
well  as  lime. 

The  efifluent  from  the  tanks  in  which  the  sludge  is  deposited  flows 
away  down  to  Tyburn,  the  fields  of  which  farm  are  well  under-drained. 
Some  fields  are  seen  in  beautiful  bearing  condition,  while  others 
appear  to  have  just  received  their  dose  of  sewage.  The  w^f^r  escapes 
from  the  under-drains  into  a  large  brick-lined  channe'  .,'rtainly 

looks  clear  enough,  but  seems  to  deposit  a  reddish  •;  -i..  on  the 
sides  of  the  channel.  It  is  still  complained  of,  howevei,  ;.nd  the  talk 
goes  that  more  land  is  to  be  purchased  for  further  purifying  it.  This 
final  effluent  escapes  at  Castle  Bromwich,  on  the  Midland  Railway.  As 
regards  its  composition  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  such  details  pub- 
lished as  are  given  in  the  Berlin  reports  and  which  enable  one  to  judge 
as  regards  the  extent  to  which  the  fertilizing  constituents  of  the  sewage 
have  been  utilized. 

I  was  informed  on  the  spot  that  the  cost  to  the  city  after  deducting 
all  the  receipts  for  agricultural  produce  amount  to  $12,000  annually. 
According  to  the  accounts  for  1896  this  loss  amounted  to  over  $17,000, 
altogether  independent  of  interest  on  the  capital  expenditure,  which 
amounts  to  over  $400,000. 

At  the  Montague  street  interception  works  I  observed  the  manner 
in  which  garbage,  ashes  and  excreta  are  handled.  The  latter  is  col- 
lected by  the  pan  system,  which  was  introduced  in  1874,  gradually 
replacing  the  twenty  thousand  cesspools  then  existing.  The  pans, 
which  are  made  of  galvanized  iron,  are  cylindrical  in  shape,  eighteen 


DISPOSAL  OF  REFUSE  IN  SOME  EUROPEAN  CITIES.       '  9 

inches  in  diameter  and  fifteen  inches  deep,  and  covered  with  a  tightly 
fitting  Hd.  The  vans  used  carry  eighteen  pans  and  have  a  receptacle 
at  the  tail  end  into  which  the  ash  tub  refuse  is  tipped.  The  garbage, 
ashes  and  breeze  (or  half-burnt  coal)  is  riddled  on  octagonal  rotating 
screens,  which  separate  the  fine  ashes  from  the  rougher  material.  The 
latter  is  further  sorted  by  removing  from  it  broken  crockery,  brick 
ends,  tin  cans,  etc.  What  remains  is  in  such  a  condition  as  to  furnish 
fuel  for  raising  all  the  steam  which  is  required  in  the  works,  and  might 
produce  considerably  more.  The  ashes  or  clinkers  produced  from 
the  destruction  of  the  garbage  and  coarse  ashes,  etc.,  are  useil  for 
even  more  useful  purposes  than  filling  up  low  ground.  They  are 
applied  in  making  concrete  and  are  also  ground,  mixed  with  lime  and 
water,  and  sold  as  ready  made  mortar.  The  steam  from  the  boilers 
above  the  destructor  furnaces  is  used  for  driving  the  engine,  mills 
and  other  machinery,  the  latter  being  chiefly  employed  for  the  treat- 
ment of  the  excreta  or  night  soil.  As  regards  the  latter,  on  reaching 
the  works,  the  contents  of  the  pans  are  emptied  into  tanks,  where 
they  receive  an  addition  of  about  one  per  cent,  oil  of  vitriol.  Here 
the  more  solid  portion  settles,  and  is  drawn  off  into  a  machine,  where 
it  is  mixed  with  fine  ashes  from  the  rotating  screens  above  mentioned. 
This  forms  an  ash  manure,  which  is  taken  out  into  the  country  and 
sold  at  varying  prices,  or  given  away  to  the  farmers. 

The  more  fluid  part  of  the  excreta  is  used  for  manufacturing  a 
species  of  poudrette.  Both  steam  and  hot  furnace  gases  are  used  for 
this  purpose,  the  latter  being  preferred  as  cheaper  and  better.  The 
evaporating  apparatus  consists  of  a  revolving  cylinder,  charged  with 
the  liquid  and  through  which  the  hot  gases  from  the  furnace  pass 
direct.  There  are  no  stirrers  inside,  and  the  product  is  not  discharged 
until  it  is  semi-solid.  It  is  then  broken  up  into  small  pieces  and  com- 
pletely dried.     Its  analysis  shows : 

PER  CENT. 

Nitrogen  stated  as  ammonia , 7.49 

Phosphoric    acid    total 3.2,3 

Potash   2.!)7 

This  would  have  a  value  here  of  $24.38^  per  ton,  and  is  said  to  sell  in 
Birmingham  at  $6.  Of  course,  it  may  be  said  that  it  costs  more  to 
produce  it  than  it  sells  for,  but  this  can  also  be  said  of  the  agricultural 
products  of  a  sewage  farm. 

1  Values  of  Fertilizing-  Constituents  in  Canada: 

Nitrogen  as  Ammonia  and  Nitric  Acid 13c     per  lb. 

Organic  Nitropen 12c  " 

Phosphoric  Acid,  Soluble 6c  " 

"  Reverted SJ-^c       " 

"  Insoluble Sc  " 

Potash sy^c 


10        DISPOSAL  OF  /REFUSE  IN  SOME  EUROPEAN  CITIES. 

The  processes  of  refuse  disposal  adopted  by  the  corporation  of  Bir- 
ming'ham  are,  to  a  large  extent,  the  same  as  practiced  in  the  other 
English  towns  which  I  visited.  Therefore,  instead  of  describing  all 
that  I  saw  at  these  places,  I  shall  only  point  out  variations  from  the 
Birmingham  practice,  besides  mentioning  particulars  of  importance 
which  are  peculiar  to  the  localities  visited. 

MANCHESTER. 

Manchester  possesses  precipitation  works  at  Davyhulme,  but  no 
sewage  farm.  The  excreta  is  "intercepted"  to  such  an  extent  that  only 
one-fourth  reaches  the  sewers.  A  "storm  overflow"  is  to  be  observed 
In  the  sewage  canal  in  the  yard  of  the  works,  but  it  is  said  that  it  is 
seldom  that  anything  escapes  there.  The  precipitants  used  are  lime 
water,  milk  of  lime  and  solution  sulphate  of  iron,  and  after  their  intro- 
duction the  whole  mixture  is  agitated  by  waste  compressed  air-  The 
sludge  produced  is  mixed  with  slaked  lime  and  then  pumped  through 
filter  presses.  Solid  cakes  are  thus  obtained,  which  is  not  possible 
without  the  slaked  lime.  On  the  other  hand,  a  considerable  amount 
of  ammonia  is  liberated  and  passes  into  the  water  from  the  presses, 
which  smells  of  it  strongly.  The  cakes  produced  are  valueless  and  are 
dumped  over  the  "tip,"  where  farmers  are  at  liberty  to  remove  them, 
and  frequently  do  so.  There  is  no  doubt  that  they  are  capable  of 
making  excellent  soil. 

Eighty-six  million  gallons  of  sewage  are  treated  every  week,  which 
quantity  receives  fifty-eight  tons  of  slaked  lime,  containint^  forty  per 
cent,  water,  and  also  fifty  tons  co])pcras.  The  wet  sludtj^e  amounts  to 
93,448  cubic  feet  of  sixty-five  pounds  each.  To  effect  the  pressing-  of 
this  quantity  sixty-six  tons  of  slaked  lime  are  used,  and  the  product 
amounts  to  nine  hundred  and  thirteen  tons  of  pressed  cake. 

The  effluent  from  the  precipitating  tanks  is  clear,  slightly  yellowish 
tinted  and  has  no  smell  nor  any  very  disagreeable  taste,  but  it  is  not  up 
to  the  standard  of  purity  for  being  discharged  into  the  river  courses. 
Nevertheless,  the  most  of  it  is  so  discharged,  and  only  four  millions 
out  of  thirteen  million  gallons  daily  are  treated  by  a  process  of  land 
filtration.  It  is  allowed  to  flow  on  to  fields  which  are  well  under- 
drained  and  which  yield  nothing  agriculturally.  There  is  about  six 
feet  depth  of  a  loamy  sand,  or,  in  places,  of  loamy  clay,  and  the  final 
efifluent  which  flows  from  the  under-drains  is  quite  clear,  colorless, 
odorless  and  almost  tasteless. 

As  regards  the  quantity  of  material  used  in  the  precipitation  works 
for  causing  the  "sludge"  to  subside,  a  comparison  may  here  be  made 
of  the  figures  given  me  at  Barking  and  Crossness  (London),  Saltley 
(Birmingham)   and    Davyhulme   (Manchester).     At   the    first-named 


DISPOSAL  OF  REFUSE  IN  SOME  EUROPEAN  CITIES.        11 

place  four  grammes  of  lime,  or  sixty-two  grains,  are  said  to  be  used 
to  the  gallon  of  sewage,  which  is  equal  to  about  four  tons  per  mil- 
lion gallons.  At  Saltley  only  one-half  a  ton  of  lime  is  used  to  a 
million  gallons  of  sewage.  At  Davyhulme  the  quantity  stated  is 
seven  grains  per  gallon,  which  corresponds  to  one  thousand  pounds 
per  million,  or  0.45  tons.  The  quantity  of  copperas  used  at  the 
London  sewage  works  is  abor  one  ton  per  million  gallons;  at  Man- 
chester it  is  0.58  tons. 

Manchester  has,  like  Birmingham,  a  "pan"  or  "pail"  collecting 
system  for  huge  quantities  of  excreta,  which  system,  about  ten  years 
ago,  replaced,  not  only  the  open  cess[)Ools,  but  also  the  ash-closet 
system,  which  used  to  be  described  as  peculiar  to  Manchester  and 
Rochdale.  The  latter  system,  which  was  thought  to  have  many 
advantages,  was  abandoned  because,  as  a  general  rule,  the  sifting  of 
the  ashes  was  not  properly  attended  to  by  the  inhabitants,  and  fre- 
quent cases  of  nuisance  was  the  result.  The  present  system  resembles 
that  of  Birmingham  so  much  that  I  need  not  take  time  to  detail  the 
unessential  differences.  The  products  arc  nnich  of  the  same  char- 
acter, but  in  manufacturing  the  poudrctte  an  addition  is  made  of  bone 
dust,  in  order  to  increase  the  percentage  of  phosphoric  acid.  The 
"Manchester  corporation  concentrated  manure"  is  guaranteed  to  con- 
tain four  per  cent  ammonia,  ten  per  cent,  phosphates,  five  phosphoric 
acid  and  one  per  cent,  potash.  This,  at  the  rates  for  valuing  fertil- 
izers in  use  in  Canada,  would  be  worth  $'30.r)5  per  twenty-two  hun- 
dred pounds.  In  Manchester  this  quantity  sells  for  £3,  or  $15.  It 
has  not  been  found  possible  to  dispose  of  all  the  "ash  manure"  pro- 
duced at  the  works  of  the  corporation,  and  a  great  deal  of  it  is  utilized 
on  the  corporation  estate  at  Carrington  ]\Ioss.  This  property,  com- 
prising one  thousand  one  hundred  acres,  and  Chat  Moss,  with  two 
thousand  six  hundred  acres,  both  situated  about  ten  miles  from  the 
city,  close  to  the  ship  canal,  have  been  acquired  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  receiving  this  and  other  refuse  of  the  city.  Such  material  as 
clinkers  from  the  WaLer  street  and  Holttown  stations,  street  sweep- 
ings, which  consist  largely  of  horse  manure,  and  market  garbage  are 
conveyed  direct  to  these  estates  and  utilized.  I  shall  have  something 
to  say  later  on,  as  regards  the  great  value  of  these  properties  for  the 
purposes  of  the  corporation. 

OLDHAM. 

At  the  Oldham  destructor  works  the  furnaces  used  are  made  by  the 
Horsefall  Company,  of  Leeds,  and  are  said  to  ofifer  many  advantages. 
The  material  destroyed  in  them  consists  not  only  of  "dry  refuse,"  but 
also  of  household  ashes,  which  are  not  even  sifted.     As  a  substitute 


12        DISPOSAL  OF  REFUSE  IN  SOME  EUROPEAN  CITIES. 

for  the  fine  aslies  in  the  night-soil  works,  cotton  shoddy  and  other 
refuse  from  the  mills  of  the  place,  is  used.  Of  this  two-thirds  arc 
used  with  one-th*  '  excreta  to  make  manure,  for  which  the  farmers 
pay  two  shilling  s  x  pence  per  ton  besides  the  cartage.  The  Oldham 
authorities  propose  to  supplant  the  pail  system  by  a  water-borne 
system  of  sewage  and  precipitation  works.  The  latter  are  not  yet 
completed,  although  it  is  said  that  $300,000  have  already  been  ex- 
pended Qn  them. 

ROCHDALE. 

The  pail  system  was  originated  in  Rochdale  about  the  year  1870, 
and  so  was  subsequently  the  manufacture  of  ash  manure  from  excreta. 
In  1883  a  new  method  of  treatment  was  adopted  for  converting  the 
whole  of  the  excreta  into  poudrette,  and  since  then  no  ash  manure 
has  been  produced.  Thus  the  fine  ashes  can  be  sent  at  once  to  the 
"tips"  or  "dumps."  The  poudrette  or  manure  is  said  to  contain 
eight  and  one-half  per  cent  ammonia,  eight  and  one-half  per  cent,  tri- 
basic  phosphate  of  lime  and  five  per  cent,  sulphate  of  potash.  The 
offensive  gases  produced  from  the  evaporation  of  the  excreta  are  car- 
ried through  what  is  called  a  "cremator,"  a  brick  chamber  heated  by 
gas  coke,  and  thus  everything  in  the  shape  of  a  nuisance  is  prevented. 

While  visiting  ^Manchester  and  Oldham  I  had  become  aware  that 
a  certain  degree  of  rivalry  exists  betwixt  the  pail  system  of  collecting 
excreta,  by  which  it  is  "intercepted,"  and  the  water-closet  system, 
by  which  it  finds  its  way  to  the  sewers.  Each  has  its  adherents  and 
the  contention  between  them  is  sometimes  sharp  enough.  In  Roch- 
dale, at  the  time  of  my  visit,  the  pail  system  had  the  upper  hand,  and  a 
population  of  72,000  is  served  by  it.  There  are  only  about  six  hun- 
dred and  fifty  water-closets  in  Rochdale,  corresponding  to  a  popula- 
iton  of  three  thousand.  Besides  this  small  amount  of  excreta,  there 
are  large  quantities  of  domestic  drainage  and  liquid  manufacturing 
refuse,  for  the  purification  of  which  precipitation  works  and  an  irri- 
gation farm  are  being  constructed  and  laid  out.  Leaving  out  of 
consideration  the  expenditure  connected  with  these  new  works,  but 
including  everything  else  connected  with  the  collection  and  treat- 
ment of  the  refuse  of  the  town  of  Rochdale,  it  may  be  said  that,  since 
the  introduction  of  the  poudrette  manufacture,  the  gross  receipts 
have  amounted  to  one-third  of  the  gross-expenditure. 

GLASGOW. 

The  condition  of  the  Clyde,  which  passes  through  the  city  of  Glas- 
gow, has  long  been  instanced  as  an  example  of  inexcusable  river  pol- 
lution. The  dark,  almost  inky  color  of  its  water  is,  I  believe,  chiefly 
owing  to  the  large  amount  of  liquid  manufacturing  refuse  produced 


DISPOSAL  OF  REFUSE  IN  SOME  EUROPEAN  CITIES.        13 

in  chemical  and  copper-extracting  works.  Of  course,  there  is  an 
immense  quantity  of  excretage,  as  well,  in  the  sewage,  but  it  is  not 
alone  to  blame  for  the  dirty  condition  of  the  River  Clyde. 

A  beginning  has  been  made  at  introducing  a  better  state  of  things 
by  the  constructioi;  of  the  "Eastern  District  sewage  purification 
works,"  at  Dalmarnock,  where  about  one-fourth  of  the  water-borne 
refuse  of  Glasgow  is  treated.  The  processes  employed  resemble  those 
of  Davyhulme  (Manchester),  but  sulphate  of  alumina  is  used  instead 
of  copperas,  as  a  precipitan*^. 

HAWICK. 

In  Hawick  (population  22,000),  a  water-borne  system  of  sewerage 
prevails  and  is,  in  fact,  compulsory.  When  its  enforcement  began, 
the  water  supply  was  found  to  be  insufficient  and  more  had  to  be 
obtained.  The  original  drainage  of  Hawick  was  on  the  surface,  and 
that  being  uneven  and  hilly,  storm-water  was  readily  got  rid  of.  It 
is  still  led  ofT  on  the  surface  and  very  littK  of  it  finds  its  way  to  the 
sewers.  Here  we  have  a  modification  of  the  separate  system,  or  at 
least  a  case  in  which  the  contents  of  the  sewers  consist  of  excretage 
only,  the  treatment  of  which  is  not  interfered  with  or  rendered  abort- 
ive by  large  and  sudden  inflows  of  storm-water.  Previous  to  any 
precipitation  it  is  allowed  to  deposit,  mechanically,  some  of  its  im- 
purities by  passing  through  two  pretty  large  basins.  The  effluent 
from  these,  as  it  passes  on,  receives  six  to  ten  grains  of  ferrous  sul- 
phate and  ten  grains  of  quicklime  to  the  gallon.  This  treatment 
has  taken  the  place  of  one  in  which  sulphate  of  alumina  and  a  much 
larger  quantity  of  lime  were  used.  The  resulting  sludge  deposits 
itself  in  some  half  dozen  precipitation  basins  and  the  effluent  from  it 
is  comparatively  clear  and  has  an  alkaline  reaction.  It  then  flows 
through  a  series  of  ponds,  where  more  deposition  takes  place.  It  is 
not  further  filtered  or  aerated  and  finds  its  way  through  an  iron  pipe 
fifteen  inches  in  diameter  into  the  River  Teviot.  It  would  seem  that 
this  effluent  must  be  unusually  rich  in  fertilizing  substances,  but  I  was 
not  able  to  ascertain  that  any  analysis  had  been  made  of  it.  The 
mechanical  deposit,  and  the  sludge  from  the  precipitation  basins  and 
the  ponds,  all  find  their  way  into  manure  heaps,  which  are  made  up 
of  these  and  the  sweepings  and  garbage  of  the  town,  including  ashes 
and  other  domestic  and  slaughter  house  refuse.  This  manure  is  sold 
at  six  pence  per  ton,  delivered  on  the  cars.  To  the  farmers  it  is 
delivered  at  the  rate  of  five  pence  per  ton  per  mile,  no  charge  being 
made  for  the  .manure  itself.  Two  million  gallons  of  excretage  are 
thus  treated  daily  at  a  cost  of  £1,500  annually. 


14        DISPOSAL  OF  RliFUSE  IN  SOME  EUROPEAN  CITIES. 

In  Dr.  J.  II.  Vogel's  "Utilization  of  City  Refuse"  (Verwcrtluing 
der  Stiidtischen  Abfallstofife),  published  in  189G,  particulars  arc  j^iven 
regarding  the  systems  of  refuse  disposal  practiced  in  five  hundred  and 
sixty-four  German  towns  and  cities,  having  a  population  from  five 
thousand  upwards.  Of  these  ninety-two  per  cent,  arc  still  contented 
with  the  so-called  Gruben  system  (conservancy  system  in  England) 
for  the  collection  of  excretage,  for  the  very  good  reason  that  it  ena- 
bles the  authorities  to  prohibit  human  refuse  from  gaining  access  to 
the  sewers.  In  1896  I  had  an  opportunity  of  observinj^c  the  work- 
ing of  this  system  in  Freiberg,  a  town  of  30,000  inhabitants,  and 
Leipzig,  with  a  population  of  400,000. 

LEIPZIG. 

In  the  latter  city  about  one-tenth  of  the  population  make  use  of 
water  closets,  and  the  remaining  nine-tenths  of  the  ordinary  "aborts," 
or  privies,  which  are  connected  with  the  pits  by  glazed  sanitary  pipes 
seven  to  eight  inches  in  diameter.  The  pits  are  usually  placed  in  the 
court  yards,  are  well  built  of  stone  or  brick  and  have  in  the  center 
of  their  floors  a  depression  in  which  the  end  of  the  suction  pipe  from 
the  receptacle  wagons  may  be  placed.  A  vacuum  is  created  in  the 
receptacle  by  an  air  pump  placed  on  another  wagon  and  driven  by 
steam,  and  the  contents  of  the  pit  arc  thus  drawn  up  into  the  air- 
tight receivers.  Any  offensive  gases  drawn  ofif  by  the  pump  are 
passed  under  the  grate  of  the  steam  boiler  and  so  destroyed.  The 
system  is  the  same  as  that  in  use  in  Dresden,  Chemnitz,  Stuttgart, 
Mannlicim,  Nuremberg  and  otlier  German  cities.  The  receptacles 
above  mentioned  arc  emptied  into  similar  containers  placed  on  rail- 
way wagons,  by  means  of  compressed  air,  produced  by  the  same  air 
pump  and  steam  boiler  used  in  emptying  the  pil;s.  The  railway 
wagons  are  then  taken  out  to  stations  four  or  five  miles  distant  from 
the  city  and  there  emptied  by  flow  into  lower-lying  reservoirs  of  large 
dimensions.  This  is  done  to  store  it  until  required  by  the  farmers, 
who  pay  for  it  at  the  rate  of  2.20  marks  per  cubic  meter,  and  cart  it 
away  themselves  from  the  reservoirs.  When  delivered  on  the  farms 
the  price  is  three  marks  per  cubic  meter.  When  the  stock  accumulates 
it  is  often  given  away  gratis.  The  mixed  fecal  matters  are  applied  by 
the  farmers  at  once  in  the  fields.  With  reference  to  the  w^ater-closets, 
the  excreta  from  them  is  not  allowed  direct  access  to  the  sewers.  It 
is  received  into  a  pit  and  disinfected  by  the  use  of  chloride  of  lime  and 
other  chemicals.  From  the  first  pit  there  is  an  overflow  into  a  sec- 
ond, where  further  treatment  takes  place,  as  well  as  precipitation. 
The  effluent  here  is  under  the  inspection  of  a  city  official,  who  is  sup- 
posed to  test  it  in  some  way  or  other.     The  disinfecting  is  done  by 


DISPOSAL  OF  REFUSE  IN  SOME  EUROPEAN  CITIES.        15 

the  householder  or  by  persons  in  his  employment,  and  none  of  the 
expense  of  it  is  borne  by  the  city  or  by  the  contractors  who  remove 
the  refuse.  The  latter  remove  the  substances  deposited  in  these 
disinfection  pits  in  the  same  manner  as  from  those  of  the  ordinary 
construction,  but  double  rates  arc  charged  for  the  service.  Strangers 
in  Leipzig  boa.  ig  at  private  houses  sometimes  comjjlain  of  the 
smell  rom  the  water-closets,  but  the  foreman  in  charge  of  the  work 
of  removing  the  refuse  maintained  that  sucli  cases  were  extremely 
rare. 

FREIBERG. 

In  the  town  of  Freiberg,  Saxony,  the  sanitary  arrangements  arc 
essentially  the  same  as  those  of  Leipzig,  but  on  a  smaller  scale.  There 
are  a  few  water-closets  but  at  lea:jt  nineteen-twentieths  of  the  popula- 
tion are  served  by  the  system  of  direct  removal.  The  machines  used 
for  emptying  the  pits  are  worked  by  hand,  and  the  escaping  gases  are 
passed  through  a  charcoal  fire  in  a  small  iron  stove,  attached  to  the 
pump,  in  order  to  accomplish  their  deodorization.  Sonic  of  the 
excreta  pits  are  very  badly  placed.  One,  which  I  saw  being  emptied 
in  the  old  part  of  the  town,  was  situated  under  the  staircase  of  a  ten- 
ement house-  There  was  no  smell  developed,  although  the  contents 
were  constantly  stirred  to  insure  the  effective  working  of  the  suction 
pipe.  The  receptacles  on  the  wagons  in  which  the  pit  contents  are 
transported  are  constructed  of  wood,  not  iron.  When  loaded  they 
are  driven  out  of  the  town  to  a  reservoir  about  two  miles  distant, 
which  is  built  of  brick,  divided  into  two  halves.  These  are  covered 
with  a  wooden  roof  upon  which  a  wooden  ventilation  shaft  is  erected 
with  a  height  of  about  eighty  feet.  There  is  not  much  odor  per- 
ceptible around  the  reservoir,  nor  does  the  discharge  of  a  receptacle 
or  the  filling  of  the  farmers'  wagons  occasion  any  difficulty.  Upon 
the  latter  are  placed  wooden  cylinders  about  12  feet  long  and  ^Y-^ 
in  diameter  in  a  horizontal  position.  The  excreta  is  pumped  up  out 
of  the  reservoir  by  a  chain  pump  into  a  square  stationary  receiver, 
containing  a  cubic  metre,  for  which  the  farmers  are  charged  M.  1.50. 
So  far  there  has  been  no  difficulty  in  selling  the  product  of  the  town 
at  this  rate. 

BREMEN. 

In  Bremen,  a  city  of  135,000  inhabitants,  there  exists  what  Dr. 
Vogel  calls  a  mixed  system  of  refuse  disposal.  Human  refuse  is  ex- 
cluded from  the  sewers,  and  about  one-third  of  the  inhabitants  are 
served  by  the  pit  system  above  referred  to.  A  peculiarity  connected 
with  it  is  the  use  of  pneumatic  receptacles  for  emptying  the  pits. 
These  are  placed   on  wagons,  are  made  of  iron  and  look  like  small 


16        DISroSAL  or  A'/: ITS/-:  in  SOM/C  ElfROrilAN  CITIl'lS. 

round  boilers  with  a  manhole  in  one  end.  These,  when  brought  about 
ten  miles  out  of  the  city,  full,  are  discharged  by  simple  gravitation 
into  a  reservoir,  from  which  the  farmers  of  the  neighborhood  arc  sup- 
plied. The  boilers  or  receptacles  when  empty  have  a  jet  of  steam 
thrown  into  them  which  drives  out  the  air,  and  takes  its  place.  Then 
the  receptacles  are  securely  closed.  On  their  way  back  to  the  city 
they  cool,  the  steam  condenses,  and  a  vacuum  is  formed.  On  arriving 
at  the  pit  which  is  to  be  emptied  the  suction  pipes  which  extend  to  the 
bottom  of  it  are  joined  to  the  hose  of  the  receptacle  and  the  valve  of 
the  latter  opened,  when  it  is  filled  from  the  pit  in  about  three  minutes. 
Of  course,  it  sometimes  happens  that  there  are  obstructions,  and 
occasionally  the  contents  of  the  pit  are  not  sufficient  to  fill  the  recepta- 
cle, but  on  the  whole  the  system  works  well  and  dispenses  with  the 
engine  or  pumps  used  in  Leipzig  and  elsewhere. 

Another  large  portion  of  the  excretage  of  this  city  is  removed  by  a 
well-conducted  pail  system,  and  about  55  per  cent,  of  the  population 
is  served  in  this  way.  A  third  system  is  also  at  work  which  consists 
in  the  use  of  moss  litter  as  a  deodorizer,  absorbent  and  disinfectant. 
I  inspected  the  working  of  this  plan  at  the  gas  works  where  there  are 
about  200  men  employed,  who  use  the  closets  at  least  during  one 
shift.  The  receptacles,  which  looked  like  small  casks,  are  placed  un- 
der the  seats,  and  are  removed  and  emptied  twice  a  week  whether  full 
or  not.  Every  morning  it  is  the  duty  of  a  workman  to  go  to  each 
closet  and  strew  moss  litter  on  the  contents  of  the  receptacles.  All 
offensive  odors  are  absorbed  by  it,  and  nothing  disagreeable  is  to  be 
observed  in  inspecting  the  closets.  Four  bales  of  moss  litter  are  used 
per  annum,  averaging  each  140  kilos,  or  about  1408  pounds  in  all. 
This  is  equal  to  seven  pounds  per  annum  per  man  on  a  twelve  hours' 
shift.  For  twenty-four  hours  the  yearly  quantity  required  would  be 
fourteen  pounds  per  man.  This  is  a  very  small  quantity  and  shows 
that  moss  litter  is  far  more  eflfective  as  a  deodorizer  than  dry  earth, 
Moss  litter  is  used  extensively  in  private  houses  and  automatic  closets 
have  been  constructed  to  effect  its  proper  admixture  with  the  excreta. 
I  inspected  two  of  these  at  the  Tivoli  Theatre  and  the  Hansa  res- 
taurant. In  one  case  the  self-working  apparatus  was  out  of  order  and 
in  the  other  the  box  for  containing  the  moss  litter  was  empty.  Under 
such  circumstances  the  question  arises  as  to  whether  the  moss  litter 
system  would  not  work  better  without  automatically  constructed  seats 
and  special  receptacles.  There  would  seem  to  be  no  obstacle  in 
carrying  it  out  with  the  ordinary  seats  and  well  constructed  pits  in 
which  the  resulting  dung  might  be  allowed  to  accumulate  for,  say,  six 
months  before  emptying.  In  towns  irregularities  might  be  prevented 
by  specially  detailing  men  to  strew  the  moss  litter.    Whatever  the 


Disros.iL  or  a'/:fi\s/-:  /n  so  a//-:  Ecuorr.AN  cities,      i? 

merits  of  this  new  system  may  be,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  use  of 
moss  litter  as  a  deodorizer  is  incrensitijj;  in  Bremen,  while  other  Ger- 
man towns  such  as  Neumiinster,  Mimden  and  Crossen  a.  O.,  have 
adopted  the  moss  litter  system  exclusively,  Miindcn  going  so  far  as 
to  make  its  adoption  compulsory. 

BRAUNSCIIWErC. 

On  the  other  hand  it  has  to  be  admitted  that  in  Braunschweig,  where 
the  moss  litter  system  was  first  introduced,  the  authorities  have  seen 
fit  to  resort  to  other  means  of  refuse  disposal.  The  population  now 
exceeds  100,000,  and  the  building  of  new  houses  with  modern  con- 
veniences has  caused  the  pollution  of  the  sewers  with  excretage,  which 
finds  its  way  into  the  river  Oker.  To  prevent  any  further  contamina- 
tion arrangements  are  being  made  for  the  treatment  of  the  sewage  by 
irrigation  as  in  Berlin.  I  was  informed,  however,  that  for  about  one- 
half  the  population  of  Braunschweig  the  moss  litter  system  is  still  pra- 
ticed  and  that  it  works  well.  The  resulting  moss  manure  is  not  in  the 
slightest  degree  offensive  and  has  been  proved  to  have  a  high  agricul- 
tural value.  Very  thorough  investigations  have  been  made  by  such 
German  scientists  as  Gartner,  Friinkcl  and  Stutzer  regarding  the 
power  which  moss  litter  possesses  of  destroying  bacteria.  It  has  been 
found  that  when  it  is  moistened  with  about  2  per  cent,  of  sulphuric 
acid  in  a  dilute  condition  it  is  capable  of  destroying  every  species  of 
disease-breeding  germs,  and  that  its  use  is  in  the  highest  degree  ad- 
vantageous from  a  hygienic  point  of  view.  It  is  therefore  not  only 
an  absorbent  and  deodorizer,  but  also  a  disinfectant.  It  contains  from 
0.75  to  1.75  per  cent,  of  nitrogen  in  an  inactive  condition,  but  this 
becomes  available  after  its  return  to  the  soil  in  the  shape  of  moss 
manure.     Its  value  in  nitrogen  alone  is  equal  to  $3  per  ton. 

Moss  litter  is  produced  in  large  quantity  in  North  Germany  and 
Holland,  and  is  shipped  from  Rotterdam  to  London  and  even  to  Bos- 
ton and  New  York  for  use  in  stables  as  bedding  and  as  an  absorbent. 
There  are  extensive  bogs  in  Canada  from  which  it  can  be  produced, 
and  the  sample  now  before  the  meeting  is  from  one  now  being  worked 
in  the  County  of  Welland.  Experiments  have  been  made  with  it 
which  show  that  100  pounds  are  capable  of  deodorizing  800  pounds  of 
excreta.  Compared  with  dry  earth  its  deodorizing  power  is  at  least 
eight  times  greater.  It  is  equally  effective  with  kitchen  refuse,  which 
in  summer  is  a  source  of  much  annoyance  to  housekeepers.  When 
this  refuse  is  collected  in  a  tub,  and  strewed  over  with  a  small  quantity 
of  moss  litter  all  offensive  odor  disappears-  Layer  after  layer  may  be 
thus  treated  and,  when  the  tub  is  full,  the  contents  can  be  easily  burnt 
in  a  kitchen  stove. 


18      DisrosAi.  or  Aw:/rs/:'  /\  soj\//c  in'RornAN  cities. 

Ill  these  "remarks"  I  have  pointed  out  the  (listitiijuisliinp^  features  of 
the  refuse  (hsposal  systems  in  fourteen  cities  and  towns  in  Kngland 
and  Germany,  as  they  appeared  to  me  at  the  time  of  my  visit.  If  we 
attempt  to  classify  the  systems  described,  as  far  as  regards  sewage  dis- 
posal, we  at  once  become  aware  of  their  exceeding  diversity.  In 
certain  of  the  towns  described,  not  far  distant  from  each  other,  the 
systems  arc  essentially  the  same.  This  is  the  case  with  London  and 
Lfeyton,  with  Rochdale  and  Oldham,  with  Freiberg  and  Leipzig.  But 
in  all  the  others  the  systems  arc  distinctly  different  as  the  following  list 
shows : 

London — Water  carriage  and  precipitation. 

Lcyton — Water  carriage  and  precipitation. 

Berlin — Water  carriage  and  irrigation. 

Walthamstowe — Water  carriage,  precipitation  and  irrigation. 

Birmingham — Conservanc\  by  pail  system,  interception,  water  car- 
riage, precipitation  and  irrigation. 

Manchester — Conservancy  by  pail  system,  water  carriage  and  pre- 
cipitation. 

Rochdale — Interception  by  pail  system. 

Oldham — Interception  by  pail  system. 

Glasgow — Water  carriage,  conservancy  and  precipitation. 

Hawick — Deposition  and  precipitation. 

Leipzig — Conservancy  by  pit  system. 

Freiberg — Conservancy  by  pit  system. 

Bremen — Conservancy  by  pit  and  pail  systems,  and  moss  litter 
system. 

Braunschweig — Water  carriage,  irrigation,  and  moss  Utter  sytem. 

In  these  fourteen  cities  and  towns  it  would  therefore  appear  that  ten 
different  systems  are  in  operation  essentially  differing  from  each  other. 

In  the  work  above  mentioned  Dr.  Vogel  states  that  there  is  no  one 
method  for  the  disposal  of  town  refuse  which  can  be  considered  as  the 
best  and  suitable  for  all  circumstances  and  localities.  Something  to 
the  same  effect  has  been  stated  more  than  once  in  tlie  reports  of  the 
Board  of  Health  for  the  Province  of  Ontario.  There  is  no  universal 
medicine,  and  no  system  everywhere  applicable  with  equal  economy  to 
the  cleansing  of  a  city.  But  it  will  readily  be  admitted  that  there  are 
many  methods  in  operation  at  the  present  day  which  leave  much  to  be 
desired  in  aesthetic,  hygienic  and  economic  respects,  and  some  of  these 
imperfect  methods  have  been  described  in  this  paper.  If  any  of  these 
are  objectionable,  then  improvement  is  desirable,  and  it  is  for  us  to 
endeavor  to  ascertain  the  direction  in  which  such  improvement  is  most 
likely  to  be  found.  Each  one  of  us  has  no  doubt  his  convictions  and 
perhaps  prejudices  on  the  subject.     I  confess  that  I  have  mine,  based 


n/srosAL  OF  a'/:fc/s/':  in  som/c  /crA'or/c.iN  ciriics.     lo 

largely,  I  claim,  upon  observations  made  in  the  localities  above  men- 
tioned. With  all  due  deference  to  the  opinions  of  other  members  nf 
this  Association  who  have  studied  the  subject,  I  shall  state  my  views 
for  what  they  are  worth. 

For  cities  I  believe  the  direction  of  improvement  lies  in  the  exclusion 
from  the  sewers  of  storm  and  surface  water,  and  the  treatment  of  the 
excretage  by  comminution  or  precipitation  and  irrigation.  It  is  very 
well  known  that  in  many  precipitation  works  and  also  on  irrigation 
farms  the  regular  course  of  work  is  frequently  interrupted  and  the 
proper  utilization  of  the  sewage  prevented  by  sudden  or  long  con- 
tinued rains.  By  these  the  sewage  is  diluted,  or  carried  away  into  the 
water  courses  sometimes  without  any  treatment  at  all,  complaints  and 
suits  for  damages  being  the  result.  In  the  case  of  Hawick  we  have 
seen  that  it  is  possible  to  exclude  surface  and  storm-water  from  the 
excretage  in  the  sewers,  and  in  all  similar  hilly  localities,  such  as 
Birmingham  for  instance,  it  would  seem  comparatively  easy  to  provide 
surface  courses  for  the  surface  water.  Where  this  is  impossible  there 
seems  to  be  no  other  plan  available,  except  the  separate  system,  the 
drainage  going  direct  to  the  water  courses,  and  the  excretage  to  the 
precipitation  works  and  irrigation  farms. 

For  towns  of  30,000  population  and  inider,  I  believe  that  improve- 
ment will  be  found  possible  by  substituting  the  moss  litter  system  for 
conservancy  of  every  description.  The  reason  why  systems  of  direct 
disposal  are  so  difficult  to  abolish  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  introduction 
of  any  of  the  various  systems  which  have  been  proposed  in  their  place 
involves  financial  sacrifices  which  many  communities  cannot  be  per- 
suaded to  make.  On  the  other  hand  to  convert  a  conservancy  into  a 
moss  litter  system  would  seem  to  be  a  comparatively  inexpensive  un- 
dertaking. Much  alteration  would  not  be  required  in  the  existing 
conveniences,  and  the  immediate  result  would  be  the  production  of  an 
inoffensive  manure,  scarcely  recognizable  as  such,  which  could  be 
handled  and  transported  without  annoying  anyone,  and  which  would 
be  welcome  to  the  farmer  as  an  excellent  fertilizer.  In  order,  however, 
to  insure  the  successful  working  of  the  moss  litter  system  it  is  before 
all  things  necessary  that  the  town  authorities  should  manage  it  and  that 
a  method  of  regular  inspection  should  be  carried  out,  so  as  to  insure 
the  proper  and  regular  use  of  the  moss  Utter.  It  is  not  to  be  expected 
that  such  a  system  would  replace  that  of  water  carriage  where  it  has 
been  established,  but  there  are  many  small  towns  where  such  a  simple 
and  effective  plan  of  excreta  disposal  as  that  by  means  of  moss  litter 
could  readily  be  established,  and  would  be  retained  permanently  even 
after  the  population  had  considerably  augmented. 


20     i)/sros.iL  OF  h'/:tusi-:  in  somj-  inKoriiAN  cihes. 

I  may  mentioti  that  the  treatment  of  excreta  by  moss  litter  has  long 
been  in  use  at  Caledonia  Springs,  Ont.,  and  has  given  the  most  satis- 
factory results.  1  give  this  as  an  excellent  practical  example  of  the 
system  which  I  look  upon  as  the  most  effective  and  economical  for 
towns  and  villages.  \\  ith  reference  to  the  plan  which  seems  to  me 
ought  to  he  recommended  for  cities,  namely,  exclusion  of  surface 
water,  comminution  and  irrigation,  our  best  example  in  Catiada  is 
that  practiced  at  the  Asylum  ft)r  the  Insane  at  London,  Out. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  paper  without  again  noticing  Manchester  and 
its  peculiar  troubles  and  surroundings.  It  appears  that  since  the  time 
of  my  visit  the  effluent  flow  from  the  sewage  works  at  Davyhulme  has 
not  been  giving  satisfaction,  and  a  scheme  was  proposed  for  conveying 
it  to  the  estuary  of  the  Mersey  by  means  of  a  culvert.  Subsequently 
this  plan  encountered  violent  opposition  and  had  to  be  abandoned. 
The  corporation  of  Manchester  must  by  this  time  have  almost  arrived 
at  the  conclusioti  that  to  solve  the  sewage  problem  "passes  the  wit  of 
man."  At  the  same  time  it  is  the  fact  tliat  the  city  owns  3700  acres  of 
lands  on  the  banks  of  the  ship  canal,  underlying  which  there  is  a  prac- 
tically inexhaustible  quantity  of  moss  litter.  By  removing  this,  and 
utilizing  it  in  the  city  for  the  manufacture  of  moss  manure,  an  excellent 
dumping  ground  might  be  obtained  for  the  less  offensive  refuse  of  the 
city,  such  as  ashes,  rubbish,  etc.  Upon  this  in  course  of  time,  and  by 
means  of  the  moss  manure,  the  whole  extent  of  both  Chat  and  Car- 
rington  Moss  might  be  converted  into  a  most  fruitful  area,  and  made 
in  fact  to  "blossom  like  the  rose." 


I 


